Help: Craftsman 21743 Planer any good?

[Kevin Gregoire]

hello,
i have a chance to buy a new Craftsman #21743 Planer at a very good price
but i wanted to find out first all of your opinions here about it? i did some
searching and found many pros & cons so i want info from first hand owners
please.

and does anyone have a link to an online manual for it to check out before buying?

thanks

http://i27.tinypic.com/jazyw6.jpg

[Kevin Gregoire]

has anyone used this??

[Jerome Hanby]

Popular Woodworking said some nice things about it. Final comment was that it was more expensive than most of the other models and wasn't worth the higher price.

Sounds like it has some good qualities and nifty extras.

If it's a really good price, might be worth a try just for the motorized adjustments, fan driven chip clearance, and folding tables (that aren't blocked by the dust collection).

[Eli Johnson]

As simple as a google search: http://tv.manualsonline.com/mdownloads/63ce67e3-e562-4983-bb67-a992bc8a79bf.pdf

[Kevin Gregoire]

thanks Eli for finding that manual.

anyone else here have any experience with this planer please??

[Bill White]

I don't buy ANY Craftsman power tools built after 1980. 'Nough said?
Bill

[Cory Hoehn]

I can't speak to the quality of that planer, but I've purchased a Craftsman router and drill press in the past 6 months and the quality has been top notch. I haven't experienced the first problem with either tool.

[Myk Rian]

Craftsman tools have undergone a change in the last several years. They are having tools built by top name companies. You really have to do your homework on them now.
It's weird that the planer doesn't come up on a search at sears.com . Just replacement blades. How old is the planer?

[Joe Spear]

I have the Craftsman 13" planer with the three-blade head and digital readout. It works really well. I have had a Delta and a Makita in the past. They also worked well. The one you're looking my be fine also.

As someone has already said, Craftsman power tools have regained their quality in the past few years since Sears started dealing with good manufacturers again.

[Chris True]

I've had that planer for a little over a year now and run something like 1000 BF through it, probably more. It does a good job, for the first 6 months or so I used that bag thingy over a 30 gallon trash can and it does a great job of collecting the chips. Fine dust does go through the bag fabric but that's the nature of bags!

Problems? Nothing serious, the black plastic "depth of cut" gauge on the infeed side quit working a while ago but it was fairly useless to begin with - a gimick. I do need a new depth crank as it cracked when I dropped and 8 foot long chunk of 8/4 oak on it. Not really designed for that impact :). You need to clean the rollers occasionally and wax the tables. Standard stuff. The knives are double sided, I've flipped the first set and am on the first side of my second set. Changed em a week ago after planing 100 bf of hickory...